


Introductory Chapter

by Bluewolf458



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Episode Related, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-10
Updated: 2013-05-10
Packaged: 2017-12-11 10:51:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/797785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluewolf458/pseuds/Bluewolf458
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A sort-of retelling of Night Shift. Jim reads Blair's introductory chapter and reacts badly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Introductory Chapter

**Author's Note:**

> This is a slash version. A gen version is also available.

## Introductory Chapter

#### by Bluewolf

  
Not mine. Just letting them have some fun and then I'll return them to Pet Fly and Paramount  
Some of the dialogue is taken from the episode. First printed in Howl of the Wolf 3  
  
This story is a sequel to: 

* * *

Introductory Chapter 

by Bluewolf 

Blair finished his lecture on the native tribes of the Aleutian Islands at eleven, with a directive to the students to find out as much as they could about the transfer of the area from Russian rule to the United States before their next class, and watched the last ones leave with... not exactly a sigh of relief, but certainly with a feeling of tension released. This was not an easy group to teach, though he couldn't really understand why; they seemed keen enough, they were attentive... perhaps it was because they gave nothing back? They absorbed what they were told, but it didn't seem to stir any curiosity in them to discover more detail about what they were told. He could have received as much feedback from a class of puppets. 

It was classes like this one that made him wonder just how effective he was as a teacher. It should have been possible to spark enthusiasm in at least _some_ of them! But it seemed clear that if anyone could, he was not that person. 

He gathered his notes together and went down to the storeroom that was his office, filed them away and sorted out the notes he would need for his next two classes later in the week, pushed them into his backpack, and headed off. One thing was certain; there was no point in delaying in case any of _this_ class arrived wanting something clarified. 

He drove to the PD, parked and headed for the stairs, telling himself that the exercise of walking up seven flights was good for him. In truth, still a little unsure of how completely he was accepted by most of the personnel there, he was delaying the moment when he had to walk into the bullpen. 

He was halfway up when he met Carolyn Plummer coming down. 

"Hi, Carolyn." 

"Hello, Blair." Without sounding unfriendly, her voice was slightly flat. 

"How're you doing?" Blair asked, thinking gloomily that he couldn't even arouse someone's interest in what might be called a social situation. 

"Fine. What about you? Rumor says you've moved into Jim's spare room - well, if you can call that broom closet a room." 

"Yeah, that's right," Blair said. "My old place blew up and I was stuck with nowhere to go - I was doing a paper on a Barbary ape, and the options for getting a motel room with Larry were zilch. Jim came to the rescue." 

"How're you getting on with him now you're living in the same house?" Curiosity gave her voice a little animation. 

"No problems. He can get a bit territorial at times, but hey, it _is_ his place." He put a slight chuckle into his voice. 

"So how long are you planning on staying with him?" 

"Well, it was supposed to be for a week till I found somewhere else, but an affordable place for a student isn't easy to find in a university town mid-semester even though I gave Larry back to the zoology department after four days, and when he learned I hadn't found somewhere and was meaning to sleep in my office at Rainier, Jim told me I could stay indefinitely. We get on fine together." 

Carolyn's eyebrows lifted in surprise, then she said, "Well, since you have your own room it might be different, but... well... I mean, I still like him, love him, even, I really do, but _live_ with him?" 

Blair looked thoughtfully at her. "Okay, I know I haven't been there long, but we don't seem to be having any problems." 

"Haven't you seen how... well, paranoid he can get at times?" she asked. 

"I've seen him get defensive, sure, but doesn't everyone, sometimes?" Blair hesitated before asking, "Was that what went wrong with you and him?" He managed to put some sympathy into his voice, although from the little he had seen of her, he felt he hadn't met anyone in the PD who was less compatible with Jim. 

Carolyn shook her head. "That was only a small part of it. It was more... he seemed terrified of intimacy, wouldn't ever let me get close to him. Even in bed together, having sex... It was almost as if he wanted to get it over with fast so he could get back into his own personal space." 

"I haven't seen any signs that he values his personal space that much," Blair said. 

"Oh, he does," Carolyn said dryly. "He touches a lot, yes - but _he_ does the touching. It's like he's holding people at arm's length when he does, though, he doesn't encourage anyone to touch him. You move into his personal space, he backs away, at least emotionally; you can almost feel him forcing himself not to move away physically. It's like he only feels safe if there's that two feet of space between him and other people. God, why am I telling you all this?" 

Blair grinned. "You're warning me not to let myself think I'm getting close to him?" 

"Yeah, I suppose that's it. You have an affectionate nature, Blair; I'd hate to see you hurt by discovering that someone you thought of as a friend thinks of you as nothing more than an acquaintance." She sighed. "Hell of it is, we get on really well together now that we're divorced - better in a lot of ways than when we were married. In some ways I wish it was possible for us to get back together - we know what we did wrong last time... or at least I know what we did wrong. It's not going to happen, though - I'm well aware it would be a mistake to try. Which is why I'm thinking of moving away from Cascade. If I'm not seeing him constantly, maybe I'll be able to get on with my life." 

"Where will you go?" 

"I've applied for a job in Seattle. If I don't get it, I'll try somewhere else. Maybe San Francisco. I hear they're always looking out for Forensic staff." 

"Well, good luck," Blair said sincerely. "You'll be missed here, but I think you're probably right. There's nothing deader than a dead romance, even if you manage to stay friends." 

Carolyn nodded, smiled, and moved on. For a moment, Blair watched her going down the stairs, then he turned and carried on upwards. She had given him something to think about. 

Fear of intimacy... now was that a sentinel thing, or a Jim thing? It would be worth making a note of her comments, and considering the implications later. 

* * *

Over the next three years he occasionally thought over Carolyn's comments, and when he finally realized that he really had to make some attempt to finish writing his dissertation, he read through the notes he had made after that chance meeting on the stairs, considering her comments in the light of his now three-year acquaintance with Jim Ellison, rather than the nearer three weeks it had been at the time. 

He nodded thoughtfully as he considered her comments, appreciating them as he had not fully done three years previously. 

Territorial - god, yes. Even back then he had realised Jim could be territorial - Carolyn hadn't needed to tell him that - but he had only recently begun to realize just how territorial Jim sometimes was. Could he, he wondered, make that a generalization, or was it Jim-specific? None of his part-sentinels had been bothered by the presence of other part-sentinels in their workplaces; indeed, he had found they frequently worked happily together, collaborating to improve their efficiency. 

He thought about it for some time, then decided that in the absence of another full sentinel as a comparison, he could only assume it was Jim-specific. Or maybe full-sentinel-specific? Pity he couldn't find another sentinel... but it had taken him long enough to find just one; the odds on finding another had to be pretty impossibly long. 

The 'personal space' comment... now that one was really interesting. He and Jim were constantly in each other's personal space, though now he really thought about it, Jim _did_ seem more at ease when he was controlling the closeness of their contact, although he didn't seem to have any _real_ problem with Blair touching him; something the younger man had frequently had to do, especially in the first months, to help Jim maintain control of his sometimes erratic senses. Carolyn had been right - Jim touched a lot, some people more than others, but - without being too obvious about it - tried to avoid being touched. Of course, with his sense of touch as acute as it was, that was perhaps not too surprising; he could control how hard he touched someone, he couldn't control how hard they touched him. 

The sex/intimacy thing was interesting. Blair had seen Jim attracted to someone more than once over the past three years, and in every case it had been a purely physical thing. He had suspected that Jim felt a little more for Sheila Irwin than just lust, but when it turned out that she was already engaged, he hadn't shown the least sign of regret. Indeed, the only people towards whom Jim showed genuine, deep affection were Simon, possibly Daryl, probably, now, his father and brother - since meeting up with them again, he had begun to see both on a semi-regular basis - and Blair himself. 

Hmmm... Men. All men. Of course, Jim had spent much of his life in a male-only environment, even when he was growing up; his mother was 'gone' - and Blair was still far from sure if that meant she'd walked out or if she'd died; he expressed affection for Sally, who had certainly been a surrogate mother, but a servant in William Ellison's house would certainly have been encouraged to keep her place. 

God, no wonder Jim's marriage had failed! The man had had no idea whatsoever of normal male-female interaction, and Carolyn had probably never realized that, seeing Jim's uncertainty as 'distance'. But that was speculation, and had no validity for inclusion in his dissertation. 

He read through his notes again, and sighed. He had those few comments from Carolyn. He had some occasional comments from Simon and one or two passing observations from the others in the bullpen. Everything else was based on his personal interaction with Jim, and he knew that he was biased. How could he write a dispassionate, measured dissertation about a man he had come to... yes, love. 

And yet he must, and he must present all possible facets of a sentinel's life if his dissertation was to have any credibility. He must present the problems as well as the advantages, and indicate how these had helped to mold his sentinel's personality. 

He sat for some minutes, just thinking; and then he pulled his laptop forward, opened a new file, and began typing. 

* * *

Blair had read a few theses in his time, as well as many, many papers, and his considered opinion was that too many of them were very dry reading, even for someone who knew the subject, and unlikely to be read by anyone except really serious students. He believed that the field of anthropology was one that interested many laymen, even if they didn't want to _study_ the subject, so he had always tried to keep his papers factual but readable, throwing in a little humor if possible. It was impossible not to use a lot of technical terms, but apart from them, he saw no point in using polysyllabic words that would have most people reaching for a dictionary if he could use simpler ones. Over the years, he had discovered that although some of his lecturers disapproved of what they considered his frivolous approach and tended to give him lower marks than the work deserved, most of them accepted that this was his style of presentation, and as long as his points were clear and unambiguous graded his work fairly. 

Although he had more than enough material for several different dissertations, he had delayed and delayed and delayed starting to work on one, but he finally accepted that he could delay no longer, and began the introductory chapter. He knew it was unfair of him to tease Jim about it, but he knew that what he had written was good, informative, interesting and entertaining and - he later realized - he had been subconsciously pushing Jim into doing exactly what he _had_ done; taken the folder containing the introduction to read it. 

Major mistake. He had forgotten how much of a layman Jim was, and how easily he would probably misconstrue what he read. It drove him into defensive aggression when Jim called him on it. 

It began when Jim snapped, "Come on, Chief! Can I get a little space here?!" 

Blair frowned, puzzled at the hostile tone. "Jim, what's the matter with you?" 

"Maybe I'm feeling a little, uh, how did you say it - 'territorially threatened to the point of paranoia'? I mean, what the hell is that?" 

Blair's jaw dropped. "You read my dissertation. Jim, I don't believe you. I asked you not to do that!" 

"After I let you stay at my place. I get you a job at the department. I mean you don't have enough data you got to go digging into my ex-wife's life?" 

Blair took a deep breath. "When I spoke to Carolyn, it was just after I moved into the loft. It was actually only a casual conversation, and the only reason that I kept a note of it was because, at the time, she knew you better that I did." 

"What has my sex life got to do with your project?" Jim demanded. 

"Sex life?" Blair asked, completely puzzled. "She said you had a fear of intimacy, Jim. Intimacy and sex are two different issues - " 

"Maybe to you they are, Chief, but my personal life and those that are involved in it is intimate to me!" Jim snapped. 

"Look, we have three years of our lives invested in this thing and I'm not going to start shading any of it because you're starting to feel a little threatened!" Blair snapped back. 

"Threatened by you? I don't think so, Chief." But he knew that he did feel threatened... Not by Blair himself, but by the words Blair had written. 

"What else do you call the way you're reacting?" Blair demanded. 

"I call it a violation of friendship and trust!" Jim turned and stalked off. 

Blair watched him go, his face a mask of misery. He had been so pleased with that chapter... He should have known that Jim was bound to misunderstand the different meaning with which he had shaded the words. 

After a few seconds, he turned and went off to make himself useful, preferably doing something mindless that would allow him to _think_. 

* * *

Kaplan was a man Jim could cheefully have throttled, the sort of man able to twist any statement to mean the exact opposite of what was meant. Wondering how he could possibly get Johnny Macado to trust the cops and come clean with what he saw, he headed to where Blair was handing out sandwiches. Feeding the kid might just help to persuade the boy that the cops weren't the monsters he obviously thought they were. 

He picked up a sandwich without paying too much attention to what kind it was. 

Unsure how Jim would react, Blair said tentatively, "Uh... I'd probably stick to the tuna if I were you." 

Jim glanced at him as he put back the one he had picked up and reached for the one Blair was offering him. "All right." He hesitated for a moment. "Look, Chief, uh... you know, uh, I... maybe I... maybe I overreacted." 

Blair's eyebrows lifted. "Maybe?" 

"I know I shouldn't have read your dissertation," Jim admitted. "And I'm sorry about that, but I'm... You know, I thought we were friends." 

"Right." 

"It doesn't read that way to me," Jim said, and Blair could hear the hurt in his voice. 

"I said that most of your life choices are fear-based, yes," he agreed. "But it's not as bad as it sounds." 

"Are you kidding me? It makes me sound like a coward!" 

Blair sighed. "Come here." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "This is an introductory chapter; an overview of the whole thing. In a later chapter I plan to develop that theme, and I would have explained to you exactly what it meant if you'd just waited before reading it. 

"We all have fears. You chose to be a sentinel. And the way that you deal with your fears, _all_ of them, is based on that choice. It doesn't automatically mean that you're afraid for yourself. It can be fear of failing the tribe, fear of not meeting your own expectations of what you can do, or should be able to do. Fear can be one of your greatest allies. Now, you can choose to bottle it up inside or we can work on it." 

"After this?" Jim asked, a touch bitterly. 

"So, what do you want to do?" Blair asked. "Just want to call it quits?" 

Jim looked down without answering. 

"Ah, maybe you're right," Blair said after a long moment. "Maybe I've, uh... lost my objectivity. I'll tell you what - I'd rather just be friends. So why don't I go destroy my notes? How about that?" Turning, he walked quickly away. 

Jim stood for a moment, still watching the corner around which Blair had disappeared. He jumped when he heard the quiet voice behind him. 

"You didn't answer him. What good does it do for a man to have ears that will hear a thousand miles if he cannot listen to the whispers of his own heart?" 

Jim jerked around to stare at the man called Gabe. "What?" _How the hell did this guy know...?_

Gabe just looked at him. "You should begin by listening to the hearts of others." And then, apparently losing interest, he began muttering again, words that Jim could not understand. 

Jim stared at him for a moment, then walked down the corridor, following his guide. 

* * *

It had been a hectic night, but in the morning, as Kaplan was loaded into the police van, still insisting that there was no way he could be held for _anything_ , Jim led Blair back towards the bullpan, saying, "Hey, Chief, you think you can still get the intro to your dissertation in on time? I mean, you know, aside from the stuff about me, I... I thought... I thought it was pretty good - really good." 

Blair smiled, recognizing the comment for the apology that it was. "Jim, it's all about you." 

"Well, yeah, but nobody needs to know that, right?" A few steps further on, Jim went on, "Let me ask you something. Between you and me, _do_ you think I'm paranoid?" 

Blair's smile widened. "Well, if you need to ask... " 

Jim glanced at him, and he relented. "Okay, Jim - when we get home, I'll go over the chapter with you, and explain exactly what all the big words mean." 

He ducked, and Jim's swat went harmlessly over his head. 

* * *

They went back to the loft via Rainier, and Blair handed in the chapter. 

Once they arrived home, Jim busied himself getting a meal ready; although it was actually breakfast time, after the night they had just experienced, and knowing they would be going to bed soon, it was more like dinner. It didn't take him long to make up cheese sandwiches and open a can of soup. As he left the soup heating, and walked back into the living room, Blair asked, "Want to go over the chapter now? It won't take long." 

Jim looked at him. "I've been thinking about what you said, about the meaning of fear." He sighed. "That's how you're going to expand on it? Fear of failure?" 

"Yes." 

"And the intimacy thing?" 

"I think that's linked to your sense of responsibility. A sentinel's responsibility is to the tribe as a whole; the only person he would dare get close to, emotionally, would be his guide, the person who helped him maintain control over his senses. Again, it comes back to a fear of failing the tribe. Territoriality? Again, looking after the tribal territory; seeing rival tribes as a danger to _his_ tribe, his tribe's welfare. But society today isn't as... well, restricted as it was even as recently as two or three hundred years ago; so a sentinel might sublimate his need to protect the tribal territory into protecting his own personal territory. You never really let Carolyn in, did you?" 

"Well... no." 

"Yet you never had any problem with letting me in." 

"She wasn't my guide. You are." 

Blair grinned. "I rest my case." 

"But... " 

"Yes?" 

"If the only person a sentinel ever got emotionally close to was his guide... Chief, what about sex?" 

"What about sex?" 

"Well... what did he do about sex?" 

"Let me ask you something, Jim. I've seen you showing an interest in several women in the last three years - and they've all been intense, but _short_ liaisons. You married Carolyn, yes - how much of that was her expectation of how your relationship should go?" 

Jim opened his mouth to reply, then closed it again. "You're right," he said after a brief pause. "She expected it, but I realized it was a mistake before we'd been married a month. I did try, but it got harder and harder to accept her inside... inside my territory. Maybe if we'd had a child it would have been different - but she didn't want children." 

Blair nodded. "Burton implied that a sentinel might be drawn to a woman - whose father or husband would permit it in the hope that she might quicken with a sentinel child - but such an attraction would be brief. Intense, but brief." 

"And for the rest of the time he'd live celibate." 

"Didn't follow. Who was the most important person in his life? And while you're thinking about that, let's eat. I'm hungry." 

He left Jim staring after him as he headed for the kitchen, laid the table and then poured the soup into two bowls. "Ready," he said. 

Jim crossed to the table. "Chief?" 

"After we've eaten," Blair said. 

They finished the meal quickly - once he started eating, Jim discovered that his appetite, which had temporarily deserted him as the impact of Blair's comments hit, had not in fact vanished. 

It seemed that Blair was in no hurry to continue the conversation; he gathered up their plates and washed them; pulling himself from his thoughts and back to the loft, Jim followed, dried the dishes and put them away, then allowed Blair to pull him back to the couch. 

As he sat, Jim said quietly, "Chief, are you saying that sentinels regularly had sex with their guides?" 

Blair moved to what had become his end of the couch. "Burton didn't actually say so, but the implication is there - and when you think about it, it makes sense. There's not really anything unnatural about homosexuality. There's far more of it in the animal world than naturalists would have us believe. A friend of mine went out with a film team a few years ago. They were studying African wild life, and according to Vic they saw a _lot_ of homosexual behaviour, most of which wasn't filmed. Society's perception was that in the wild animals were _always_ heterosexual - that homosexuality was a human aberration, and the film makers - certainly the ones Vic was with - were scared that if they showed things the way they really were, nobody would buy the film. 

"But sex with another male is probably the best chance, maybe the only chance a lot of males have to get their rocks off. How many species have a distinct annual breeding season? With only the dominant males getting a chance at the females? 

"Add to that, sex is a good way of cementing bonds between two males who might otherwise be rivals, or deepening a bond between two males who are already friends." 

"That all sounds a terribly clinical way of looking at things, Chief." 

"I'm trying to be objective here, Jim. I mean - when you think about it, the primary purpose of sex is reproduction. Yes, it's fun - if it wasn't, nobody would bother with it. But sex just for fun isn't what you might call productive. So Man began to say that sex should only be for reproduction, and in the most extreme instances declared masturbation and homosexuality illegal. At one time homosexuality even carried the death penalty. At least now it's been decriminalized, but in a lot of places gays still have to be very circumspect." 

Jim nodded slowly. "It's not wise for a cop to come out as gay." 

"A lot of tribes totally accepted the bedarche - in some cases a bedarche became a highly respected shaman. So is it such a reach to accept that these tribes would see it as perfectly natural for sentinel and guide to satisfy each other's sexual urges?" 

"Chief... " Jim hesitated, not quite sure of how best to respond. 

"But we're not living in a society that regards something like that as natural, so... " Blair shrugged. "Far as you're concerned, it's unthinkable. I know that. So I never said anything, even though - " He looked away. 

"Even though?" 

"Even though I knew I really should tell you. Thing is, I never wanted you to know about the sexual element. At least... I knew you'd find out eventually, when the whole dissertation was finished, but - well, I was putting it off as long as possible. Originally I was hoping that by the time you did find out, our friendship would be solid enough... Now, I still hope it is. Back at the station, I said I'd rather just be friends. It wasn't in this context, right enough, but I meant it, and I still mean it." 

"Let's get this straight, Chief. Are you saying that you love me? That you want me?" 

Blair's lips twitched in an unamused grin. "Yes, but hey, nobody ever died of unrequited love. And I'm bisexual enough that I can sublimate - " 

"What if I don't want you to sublimate?" Jim asked. 

Blair looked at him. "Jim?" 

"I was scared that if you found out how I felt, you'd take the info you'd already gathered, and run." 

"We're a pair of idiots," Blair said as he allowed Jim to pull him over. He relaxed into Jim's arms, relief and happiness combining to make the embrace very satisfying. 

It seemed Jim felt much the same; he rubbed Blair's back in an undemanding caress. "How long?" he asked after a moment. 

"Certainly since Lash," Blair said. "Maybe even before that. You?" 

"About the same," Jim admitted. 

Blair looked up, and Jim lowered his head. 

Their first kiss was gentle, tentative, almost as if they were both afraid to discover that the other wasn't serious. Jim lifted his head and looked at Blair, who smiled contentedly. "Nice," he murmured. 

Jim smiled back. "Yes," he said and claimed Blair's mouth again. 

The second kiss was harder, deeper, longer... more daring, as they both relaxed the self-control they had inflicted on themselves. After a long minute they broke apart. Jim drew a deep breath. "Chief... " 

"Yes?" 

"Have you ever done this before?" 

"I've never gone all the way with another guy," Blair said. "A bit of frottage, and that was years ago and just with the one guy. Experimenting, I suppose, for both of us. But although it was fun enough, and we stayed together for a few weeks, it was easier just to stick with girls - for both of us. We stayed friends, and I went to his wedding a couple of years later. You?" 

"In the army. A little mutual wanking," Jim admitted. "Sometimes your own hand isn't enough, and you want a partner... but you always had to be careful. Some guys reacted pretty badly to even the most indirect suggestion about helping each other out. It was usually easier just to make do with Mrs. Palm." 

"Not any more," Blair murmured. "For either of us." 

Jim nodded. "Come to bed?" 

"Yes." 

Their mutual hunger didn't prevent them from carrying out their normal bedtime check of the loft, then Jim led the way up the stairs. At the top, they looked at each other, grinned, and undressed quickly. Naked, they stood for a moment, both gazing unabashedly at the other. Then Jim caught Blair's hand and pulled him down onto the bed. 

Instinct told Blair that for the moment Jim needed to lead, and he lay, responding happily as Jim plundered his mouth, moaning softly as he accepted the invading tongue. After some minutes Jim turned his attention to Blair's neck, licking his way down it then pausing to nibble at the sensitive skin where neck met chest. Blair clung to Jim's shoulders, moving his head slightly to give Jim better access. 

Jim moved slowly down to tongue first one nipple then the other, and Blair arched up, wordlessly trying to persuade Jim to deepen the contact. Jim simply lifted with him, and continued to tease Blair's nipples with light, light caresses. 

"Please, Jim!" Blair gasped. "More! Harder!" 

Jim chuckled softly and raised his head to look at Blair. "Patience, Chief," he murmured. "Do you really want our first time to finish quickly? I want to make it last a little longer." He dropped his head again, and resumed his light licking of Blair's nipples. 

A shudder of need passed through Blair as he registered the affection in Jim's eyes. 

When Blair was panting hard from his growing - almost unbearable - arousal, Jim moved on down Blair's body. He ran gentle fingers over the skin of Blair's stomach in a caress that was just firm enough not to tickle, and Blair's cock twitched in automatic response. Jim watched it for a moment, then bent his head again and touched his lips to the sensitive head. 

Blair cried out, and came, cream spurting from him to settle on his belly. Jim touched a finger to it, and tasted it. "Bitter," he murmured. 

Blair drew a deep breath. "Yes, it is," he said. "Have you any tissues?" 

"Don't need them," Jim said, and bent to lick Blair clean. 

"God, Jim!" Blair gasped. 

Once Jim was satisfied that Blair was licked absolutely clean he moved up again to resume kissing Blair's neck. He rubbed his cock against Blair's balls; Blair opened his legs slightly to let the engorged cock slip between them, and pressed them together again. Thus trapped, Jim was unable to hold back any longer. He thrust again and again, and then, with one more hard, held thrust, came. 

He held the position for a long moment, then, drained, slumped, managing to roll a little to one side to avoid squashing his partner. 

"Love you," Blair murmured. 

"Love... " Jim managed as he slid into sleep. 

Blair lay awake for a minute or two longer, content and enjoying being content, but he too was exhausted, and almost without his being aware of it, his eyes closed and he joined his sentinel in sleep. 

* * *

End 

Introductory Chapter by Bluewolf: bluewolf@bluewolfen.co.uk  
Author and story notes above.

Disclaimer: _The Sentinel_ is owned etc. by Pet Fly, Inc. These pages and the stories on them are not meant to infringe on, nor are they endorsed by, Pet Fly, Inc. and Paramount. 


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